Mac or Pc

[jaylax5]

One thing PC users can do that Mac users can't: clicky

Very interesting. I switched to Mac a year ago and will never use a PC again...and I'm not a skinny Mac geek as professed by the link you posted. The fact is, PC's get viruses and the Microsoft OS changes dramatically every few years...who needs it. Mac's run everything and are much more reliable. It's not a CC/NC debate either in my mind. Not to mention the interface with the Iphone is great too.

[smpf67]

Living in America, I really hate everything "PC"!!!!

[craigos]

PC as I work at microsoft and worked on the OSs

[SamuraiJack]

One thing PC users can do that Mac users can't: clicky

.

This cracked me up.

We'll see how long the Mac's "just work" perception holds. I believe PC's and Windows just suffer from being first, experiencing that first insane level of proliferation, and having been around long enough now to see it be more of a target security wise, and be more of a target as platforms for more random crap (software/hardware), of varying quality (i.e. more knowledge is needed to know what to plug in or install), whereas Apple tries to keep everything proprietary.

[Danashan]

Guess

For the asshats that think Mac users are dumb - I happen to hold masters degree in Computer Science and have worked on MANY OS's. Windows is by far the worst, especially with respect to ergonomics. IMHO, of course.

[CGB]

Mac here! I run XP on a VM for work stuff and testing program versatility.

[thechenman]

I'm a PC user...not that I like one OS over the other...to be honest, I could care less. The reason I go PC is simple...it is cheaper. If Mac offered more competitively priced products I woiuld have no problem jumping ship to the other side. However, they don't. One thing that I do find true which was mentioned earlier is that Apple sells the Mac and its other products not as just a computer, music, player etc., but as a lifestyle. That is all well and good, and from an advertising standpoint probably smart. But in the end, none of that matters to me as much as cost. If they spent less money on advertising, the could probably sell more computers and actually take more market share away from PCs. I mean...if the Mac OS is truly superior...let it stand on its own merits right? Right now they have 4% of the computer market...if they brought their prices down, they could probably capture even more. Your not going to hurt Mircrosoft with a 4% market share.

[SamuraiJack]

I'm a PC user...not that I like one OS over the other...to be honest, I could care less. The reason I go PC is simple...it is cheaper. If Mac offered more competitively priced products I woiuld have no problem jumping ship to the other side. However, they don't. One thing that I do find true which was mentioned earlier is that Apple sells the Mac and its other products not as just a computer, music, player etc., but as a lifestyle. That is all well and good, and from an advertising standpoint probably smart. But in the end, none of that matters to me as much as cost. If they spent less money on advertising, the could probably sell more computers and actually take more market share away from PCs. I mean...if the Mac OS is truly superior...let it stand on its own merits right? Right now they have 4% of the computer market...if they brought their prices down, they could probably capture even more. Your not going to hurt Mircrosoft with a 4% market share.

This is a good point that illustrates the fact that Macs have always relied on marketing, and thus have a leg up in the perception business. I'd love to see them "shut up" and price themselves competitively to go head to head with Windows on that level. That would probably benefit end users the most.

Another thing to keep in mind, Microsoft does not sell computers.

Its important to compare apples to apples here, and that is, OS to OS, Windows to MacOS. I am convinced that most of the things that make people say "OH MAN WINDOWS SUCKS!!!" has more to do with hardware/driver issues than Windows itself. Thats because Windows works on an open model that allows for a more open/fair hardware market. Your Mac may work, but you can't get cheap hardware for it, and thus you can't break it as easily.

[Wiley]

I manage an IT department of a software developer. I've been around Apples and PCs since the beginning.

And I've hated every Apple OS I've come into contact with. It's the Apple way or the highway, which may suit the casual user, but drives me nuts.

I do love the aluminum Macbook cases. And for people like my parents who only want to surf and play with pictures, they're great.

Aside from that, I'm also a gamer, which essentially precludes using Macs.

Linux is very fun for getting your geek on, but for web, Office, and games, Windows is where it's at.

I have Vista on both computers at home, and I've never had an issue.

I have Windows 7 at work, and it's awesome.

[Punch Joe]

Mac are rather expensive to anybody´s pocket. Probably overpriced for many. Although If I had to choose, I´d go for a Mac. better graphics and design, better performance in Audio, almost zero viruses. Heard that customer service sucks but no one really seems to care. I´m simply satisfied with the Acer laptop running windows ao I can´t complain of what have been my partner for the las 4 years. And I think it still runs decent if you have taken care of maintanace over the years. PC makes me works twice when I have to defrag the hard drive. Shitty option when you don´t need to run that on other platforms. Anyway I can handle that without further complications. My opinion.

[Mr. Japan]

At home just passed from PC to MAC, struggling a bit and all new.

At work PC but maybe....

[OZCUBAN]

At home just passed from PC to MAC, struggling a bit and all new.

At work PC but maybe....

Don't worry Mr Japan its really easy (you will see the light ) plus plenty of recourses at the Apple website

enjoy your journey

Cheers Oz

[Shelby07]

I'm an old Unix guy but today i use Vista - and I have never seen what all the complaining was about. I haven't had a problem with Windows in many years. I leave it running 24X7 and it reboots automatically once a month when it does an off line defragmentation. That's it.

The key is to maintain your PC, just like you maintain your car. Buy a good anti virus/spyware software package (I use Webroot but there are lots of good ones out there,) a good disk defragmenterer (Perfect Disk) and keep your junk directories clean (Ccleaner - free software.)

Don't use Internet Explorer, use Firefox (only because most viruses are written to work with Explorer, which is another reason the Macs don't get hit as often) and stay away from the porn sites.

Macs are ok, but there seems to be a lot more software freely available for Windows.

[zuma]

I'm an old Unix guy

Now that's a real operating system to do real work ... Microsoft should adopt a variant of the old venerable Unix at the core level, just like the Apple guys have done with OSX; 'cause the higgledy-piggledy way Windoze system is shonkily integrated is the root of the problems. Most of us with a bit of programming background tend to figure out workarounds without even thinking about it......

[sloth]

Commodore 64!!!

oh and nice avatar zuma

[Shelby07]

Now that's a real operating system to do real work ... Microsoft should adopt a variant of the old venerable Unix at the core level, just like the Apple guys have done with OSX; 'cause the higgledy-piggledy way Windoze system is shonkily integrated is the root of the problems. Most of us with a bit of programming background tend to figure out workarounds without even thinking about it......

Agreed... but UNIX was written for the software/firmware developer. The masses who use computers these days have no OS or programming background. A PC is an appliance, like a refrigerator.

[roughrider]

Was a PC user for several years. Changed over to Mac about 2 years ago. The best computing decision I've ever made. The Mac OS is well thought out and much more advanced than Windows.

[Wiley]

It depends on what you mean by "advanced". Technically, that is not true. Apple is just starting to implement things Microsoft has had for years.

If you mean design of the UI, that's probably true.

[Danashan]

It depends on what you mean by "advanced". Technically, that is not true. Apple is just starting to implement things Microsoft has had for years.

If you're referring to Microsoft technologies like Exchange, that is correct.

In pretty much every other respect, MacOSX is years more technically advanced.

If you mean design of the UI, that's probably true.

I'd argue that usability is the largest differentiator. Sane UI is just a part of it. Things tend to work on MacOSX, while on Windows they tend to break for no reason.

Please spear me "I'm using XXX for years with no problems whatsoever" anecdotes. I have working experience with Windows/Solaris/HP-UX/Linux/MacOSX and some education in Computer Science. Every OS breaks. Windows breaks more, and usability wise is on par with any other OS, except MacOSX, and that is NOT a compliment to Windows.

Please note that I put USABILITY (as in usefulness, or ability to accomplish stuff in the way that is easier with computer than without) above all for 99% of computer using public. Many people do not understand why the iPhone is cleaning the clock of every other mobile platform out there. Usability is why, and most geeks do not understand what I'm talking about (and I could be called a geek, arguably)

[Wiley]

Usability? I have one quick statement to refute that, "multi-billion dollar gaming industry".

[Shelby07]

If you're referring to Microsoft technologies like Exchange, that is correct.

In pretty much every other respect, MacOSX is years more technically advanced.

I'd argue that usability is the largest differentiator. Sane UI is just a part of it. Things tend to work on MacOSX, while on Windows they tend to break for no reason.

Please spear me "I'm using XXX for years with no problems whatsoever" anecdotes. I have working experience with Windows/Solaris/HP-UX/Linux/MacOSX and some education in Computer Science. Every OS breaks. Windows breaks more, and usability wise is on par with any other OS, except MacOSX, and that is NOT a compliment to Windows.

Please note that I put USABILITY (as in usefulness, or ability to accomplish stuff in the way that is easier with computer than without) above all for 99% of computer using public. Many people do not understand why the iPhone is cleaning the clock of every other mobile platform out there. Usability is why, and most geeks do not understand what I'm talking about (and I could be called a geek, arguably)

Started using UNIX in 1977. Worked for Bell Laboratories for 30 years. In those days we had guys like Brian Kernighan, Dennis Ritchie, Ken Thompson, Bob Morris, etc on speed dial. Those were the days!

During my career I worked on IBM and Amdahl mainframes, DEC PDP and VAX machines, (wrote my first program by toggling in assembly language on a PDP-8E - ran my first UNIX system on a PDP-11/34 - I believe it was Version 2) MAC, DOS, every version of Windows since it ran as an app under DOS, Sun Servers, Solaris, HP-UX. You are right when you say that every OS breaks.

I never said that Windows was the best, I got out of the silliness of defending one OS over another years ago. I said it works well for me. Honestly, I don't really see a huge difference between PC and MAC, certainly not enough to take sides in the age old argument of which one is better, but I do see a much larger resource pool in the way of support and development in Windows.

[Danashan]

Usability? I have one quick statement to refute that, "multi-billion dollar gaming industry".

Changing the subject?

[Danashan]

Started using UNIX in 1977. Worked for Bell Laboratories for 30 years. In those days we had guys like Brian Kernighan, Dennis Ritchie, Ken Thompson, Bob Morris, etc on speed dial. Those were the days!

During my career I worked on IBM and Amdahl mainframes, DEC PDP and VAX machines, (wrote my first program by toggling in assembly language on a PDP-8E - ran my first UNIX system on a PDP-11/34 - I believe it was Version 2) MAC, DOS, every version of Windows since it ran as an app under DOS, Sun Servers, Solaris, HP-UX. You are right when you say that every OS breaks.

I never said that Windows was the best, I got out of the silliness of defending one OS over another years ago. I said it works well for me. Honestly, I don't really see a huge difference between PC and MAC, certainly not enough to take sides in the age old argument of which one is better, but I do see a much larger resource pool in the way of support and development in Windows.

It is a matter of preference this days, nothing else. I prefer Mac OSX for usability and full-blown Unix I can drop to if I need.

I just really get irked by age old inapplicable references to games, market share, number of developers etc. These have nothing to do with either underlying technology, design or implementation excellence - things that matter to me.